Information processing apparatus, information processing system and computer-readable storage medium performing first authentication when storing print data and performing second authentication when printing stored print data

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus receives from a client apparatus a print request including authentication information of a user, and a judging part judges whether a printing related to the print request is enabled using the authentication information, and a sending part sends to the client apparatus information indicating that printing is prohibited when the judging part judges that the printing is not enabled. A recording part records print data and print attribute information received from the client apparatus in a related manner with respect to the print request if the judging part judges that the printing is enabled, and a sending part sends the print data to an image forming apparatus in response to a request therefrom.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of a Japanese Patent Application No.2009-132258 filed on Jun. 1, 2009, in the Japanese Patent Office, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to information processingapparatuses, information processing systems and computer-readablestorage media, and more particularly to an information processingapparatus and an information processing system that store a print job tobe executed by an image forming apparatus, and to a computer-readablestorage medium that stores a program for causing a computer to store aprint job to be executed by the image forming apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

For example, a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-200284proposes a printing system in which a print server is provided between aclient Personal Computer (PC) and an image forming apparatus. This printserver stores a print job that is set from the client PC, and transfersthe stored print job to the image forming apparatus depending on arequest from the image forming apparatus. In the printing system havingsuch a print server, a user first inputs a print instruction from theclient PC. The client PC sends the print job in accordance with theprint instruction to the print server. The print server does notimmediately transfer the print job to the image forming apparatus, butstores the print job in a storage unit such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD).Thereafter, the user operates the image forming apparatus, and instructsthe printing of the print job stored in the storage unit. The imageforming apparatus acquires the print job from the print server inaccordance with the instruction made by the user, and carries out theprinting.

In the printing system described above, it is undesirable from the pointof view of security to permit printing of a print job stored in thestorage unit by a user other than the user who inputted the printinstruction corresponding to this print job. Hence, a userauthentication process is conventionally carried out when executing theprint job in the image forming apparatus. For example, when the userinstructs the printing of the print job stored in the storage unit, theuser inputs the user's own authentication information, and the printingof the print job instructed by the user is permitted if theauthentication process based on the authentication information issuccessful.

However, when it is found that the printing cannot be made after theoperation of the user changes from the client PC to the image formingapparatus, the user may suffer considerable consequences. In otherwords, the user must return to the client PC and newly instruct anotherimage forming apparatus to execute the printing. On the other hand, in acase where the image forming apparatus is set up at a remote locationsuch as a location where the user is dispatched, the user cannot returnto the client PC, and the user cannot obtain the desired document thatshould have been obtained by the printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to providea novel and useful, information processing apparatus, informationprocessing system and computer-readable storage medium, in which theproblems described above are suppressed.

Another and more specific object of the present invention is to providean information processing apparatus, an information processing system,and a computer-readable storage medium, which may improve convenience ofa printing system in which a print destination is not restricted when aprint instruction is issued from a client computer.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided aninformation processing apparatus comprising a print request receivingpart configured to receive from a client apparatus a print requestincluding authentication information of a user; a judging partconfigured to judge whether a printing related to the print request isenabled using the authentication information; a prohibit sending partconfigured to send to the client apparatus information indicating thatprinting is prohibited when the judging part judges that the printing isnot enabled; a print information recording part configured to recordprint data and print attribute information received from the clientapparatus in a related manner in a storage part with respect to theprint request, if the judging part judges that the printing is enabled;and a sending part configured to send the print data to an image formingapparatus coupled to the information processing apparatus via a network,in response to a request from the image forming apparatus.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided aninformation processing system comprising an information processingapparatus; and an image forming apparatus, said information processingapparatus comprising a print request receiving part configured toreceive from a client apparatus a print request including authenticationinformation of a user; a judging part configured to judge whether aprinting related to the print request is enabled using theauthentication information; a prohibit sending part configured to sendto the client apparatus information indicating that printing isprohibited when the judging part judges that the printing is notenabled; a print information recording part configured to record printdata and print attribute information received from the client apparatusin a related manner in a storage part with respect to the print request,if the judging part judges that the printing is enabled; and a sendingpart configured to send the print data to an image forming apparatuscoupled to the information processing apparatus via a network, inresponse to a request from the image forming apparatus, said imageforming apparatus comprising a print control part configured to printthe print data received from the information processing apparatus.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided acomputer-readable storage medium on which a program which, when executedby a computer, causes the computer to perform a process comprising aprint request receiving procedure causing the computer to receive from aclient apparatus a print request including authentication information ofa user; a judging procedure causing the computer to judge whether aprinting related to the print request is enabled using theauthentication information; a prohibit sending procedure causing thecomputer to send to the client apparatus information indicating thatprinting is prohibited when the judging procedure judges that theprinting is not enabled; a print information recording procedure causingthe computer to record print data and print attribute informationreceived from the client apparatus in a related manner in a storage partwith respect to the print request, if the judging procedure judges thatthe printing is enabled; and a sending procedure causing the computer tosend the print data to an image forming apparatus coupled to theinformation processing apparatus via a network, in response to a requestfrom the image forming apparatus.

Other objects and further features of the present invention will beapparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure of a printingsystem in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwarestructure of a print server in the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwarestructure of an image forming apparatus in the embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functionalstructure of the printing system according to a first example of theembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining a process at a time of storing ajob;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an authenticationinformation input screen forming a print setting screen;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining a process at a time of executing ajob;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of correspondenceinformation stored in a correspondence information storage part;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining a report output process;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a report; and

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functionalstructure of the printing server in a second example of the embodimentof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A description will be given of an information processing apparatus, aninformation processing system, and a computer-readable storage medium inembodiments of the present invention, by referring to FIGS. 1 through11.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure of a printingsystem in an embodiment of the present invention. A printing system 1illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a print server 10, one or a plurality ofimage forming apparatuses 20, an authentication server 30, and one or aplurality of client PCs 60, that are connected via a network such as aLocal Area Network (LAN) or the Internet.

The client PC 60 is formed by a computer that holds print target data(for example, document data, image data and the like) to be printed, andsends to the print server 10 a print request for the print target data(or print data) in response to a print instruction input by a user. Theclient PC 60 urges the user to input authentication information (forexample, user name and password) when inputting the print instruction,and includes the authentication information in the print request.

The print server 10 is formed by a computer that stores the print dataincluded in the print request received from the client PC 60. The printserver 10 causes the authentication server 30 to execute anauthentication process based on the authentication information includedin the print request, and stores the print data included in the printrequest if the authentication process is successful.

The image forming apparatus 20 is formed by a printer, a Multi-FunctionPeripheral (MFP) or the like that is configured to acquire the printdata stored in the print server 10 and to print the print data, inresponse to an operation or instruction made by the user. The imageforming apparatus 20 urges the user to input authentication information,and causes the authentication server 30 to execute an authenticationprocess based on the authentication information that is input. The imageforming apparatus 20 acquires the print data from the print server 10 ifthe authentication process is successful.

The authentication server 30 is formed by a computer that executes theauthentication process. In this embodiment, the authentication server 30is used in common by the print server 10 and the image forming apparatus20.

Of course, it is possible to provide one or a plurality of print servers10 in the printing system 1, and it is possible to provide one or aplurality of authentication servers 30 in the printing system 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwarestructure of the print server 10 in this embodiment of the presentinvention. The print server 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a driveunit 100, an auxiliary storage unit 102, a memory unit 103, a CentralProcessing Unit (CPU) 104, and an interface unit 105 that are connectedvia a bus B.

A program for causing a computer, that is, the CPU 104, to execute aprocess in the print server 10, may be stored in any suitablecomputer-readable storage medium that is formed by a recording medium101 such as a Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM). When the recordingmedium 101 storing the program is set in the drive unit 100, the programis installed from the recording medium 101 to the auxiliary storage unit102 via the drive unit 100. Of course, the installing of the programdoes not need to be made from the recording medium 101, and the programmay be downloaded from another computer via the network. The auxiliarystorage unit 102 stores the installed program, files that are necessary,data and the like.

The memory unit 103 reads the program from the auxiliary storage unit102 and stores the program therein in response to a start instruction ofthe program. The CPU 104 executes functions of the print server 10 inaccordance with the program stored in the memory unit 103. The interfaceunit 105 provides an interface for connecting the print server 10 to thenetwork.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardwarestructure of the image forming apparatus 20 in this embodiment of thepresent invention. The image forming apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 3includes a CPU 201, a memory 202, an auxiliary storage unit 203, anetwork interface (I/F) 204, an image output part 205, an imageprocessing part 206, an external device interface (I/F) 207, a displaypart 208, and an operation part 209.

A program for realizing functions of the image forming apparatus 20 isstored (or installed) in the auxiliary storage unit 203 that is anonvolatile storage unit such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD). The auxiliarystorage unit 203 stores the installed program, files that are necessary,data and the like. The memory 202 reads the program from the auxiliarystorage unit 203 and stores the program therein in response to a startinstruction of the program. The CPU 201 realizes functions of the imageforming apparatus 20 in accordance with the program stored in the memory202. The network I/F 204 provides an interface for connecting the imageforming apparatus 20 to the network.

The display part 208 is formed by a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or thelike, and displays operation screens, messages and the like. Theoperation part 209 includes hardware buttons (or keys) in order toaccept inputs made by the user who operates the buttons. The displaypart 208 and the operation part 209 may be integrally formed as anoperation panel.

The image processing part 206 executes various image processings thatare required when outputting (or printing) the image data. The imageoutput part 205 outputs (or prints) the image data.

The external device I/F 207 provides an interface for connecting theimage forming apparatus 20 to a card reader 40 that is used to input theauthentication information, and is formed by a Universal Serial Bus(USB) port (USB host interface), a serial port or the like, for example.The card reader 40 is formed by a cad reading unit configured to readinformation from a card 50, and includes a hardware interface (forexample, a USB connector, a serial interface, etc.) connectable to theexternal device I/F 207. Of course, the card reader 40 may be providedwithin the image forming apparatus 20. In addition, the card reader 40may be a contact type that reads the information by making physicalcontact with the card 50 or, a non-contact type that reads theinformation without making physical contact with the card 50. The card50 is not limited to an Integrated Circuit (IC) card, and may be formedby any suitable card, such as a magnetic card, that is capable ofrecording a card ID (or card number) unique to each card 50. Generally,the card ID is referred to as a Universal ID or a Card Serial Number.Specific examples of the card 50 include a Proximity card, a Mifarecard, a Java (registered trademark) Card, and the like.

In this embodiment, it is assumed for the sake of convenience that thecard 50 is distributed to each user. Of course, a single card 50 may beshared by a plurality of users, depending on the security level that isrequired during operation. In addition, the card 50 distributed to eachuser is not limited to a single kind or type. As described above, thecard reader 40 may be connected to the image forming apparatus 20 in asimple manner using the USB or the like. For this reason, it is possibleto simultaneously connect a plurality of card readers 40 to the imageforming apparatus 20 depending on the kinds or types (Proximity card,Mifare card, Java Card, etc.) of cards 50 to be used with the imageforming apparatus 20. In other words, a plurality of kinds or types ofcards 50 may be used simultaneously with respect to the image formingapparatus 20.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functionalstructure of the printing system according to a first example of thisembodiment of the present invention. The client PC 60 illustrated inFIG. 4 includes a print instruction accepting part 61, a print datagenerating part 62, a print request sending part 63, and a prohibitnotifying part 64. The functions of the print instruction accepting part61, the print data generating part 62, the print request sending part63, and the prohibit notifying part 64 are basically realized by theprogram that is installed in the client PC 60 and causes the CPU of theclient PC 60 execute processes corresponding to the functions.

The print instruction accepting part 61 accepts specifying of printtarget document data. In addition, the print instruction accepting part61 causes the client PC 60 to display on a display part thereof a printsetting screen on which print attribute information (also referred to asprint conditions or print setting items) is set, and accepts setting ofthe print attribute information and input of the print instruction viathe print setting screen. Furthermore, the print instruction acceptingpart 61 accepts input of the authentication information of the user viathe print setting screen. The authentication information conforms to theauthentication method used by the authentication server 30. In the firstexample of this embodiment, it is assumed for the sake of conveniencethat the authentication information includes the user name and thepassword.

The print data generating part 62 generates print data based on theprint attribute information, with respect to the print target documentdata. The print data is written in a Page Description Language (PDL),and includes the print attribute information. In addition, the printdata generating part 62 includes (or adds) the authenticationinformation, the input of which is accepted by the print instructionaccepting part 61, in the print data (or to the print data). The printrequest sending part 63 sends a print request including the print datato the print server 10. The prohibit notifying part 64 executes aprocess to notify the user that a printing in accordance with the printrequest is prohibited (or cannot be executed), based on the informationthat is sent from the print server 10 based on the print request.

The print instruction accepting part 61 and the print data generatingpart 62 may be formed by a printer driver, for example. The printerdriver may be installed in the client PC 60 or, installed in anothercomputer such as the print server 10. In the latter case where theprinter driver is installed in another computer such as the print server10, it is possible to utilize a printer sharing mechanism provided by anOperating System (OS).

The print server 10 includes a print request receiving part 11, a printenable judging part 12, a prohibit sending part 13, a job recording part14, a job storing part 15, a job transfer part 16, a result receivingpart 17, and a report creating part 18. The functions of the printrequest receiving part 11, the print enable judging part 12, theprohibit sending part 13, the job recording part 14, the job storingpart 15, the job transfer part 16, the result receiving part 17, and thereport creating part 18 are basically realized by the program that isinstalled in the print server 10 and causes the CPU 104 of the printserver 10 to execute processes corresponding to the functions.

The print request receiving part 11 receives the print request sent fromthe client PC 60. The print enable judging part 12 judges whether toenable or prohibit the printing based on the authentication informationextracted from the print data. More particularly, the print enablejudging part 12 sends the authentication information to theauthentication server 30, and causes the authentication server 30 tocarry out an authentication process based on the authenticationinformation. If the authentication process fails (or is unsuccessful),the print enable judging part 12 judges that the printing is prohibited.On the other hand, if the authentication process is successful, theprint enable judging part 12 judges that the printing is enabled. Theprohibit sending part 13 sends to the client PC 60 a judgement result ofthe print enable judging part 12 that judges that the printing isprohibited. The client PC 60 at the sending destination of the judgementresult is judged based on identification information (Internet Protocol(IP) address or the like) included in an authentication request.

The job recording part 14 generates a job ID of a print job when theprint enable judging part 12 judges that the printing is enabled, andrecords the print data included in the print request in the job storingpart 15 in a manner related to the job ID. In addition, the jobrecording part 14 extracts a part or all of the print attributeinformation from the print data, and records the extracted informationin the job storing part 15, as bibliographic information, in a mannerrelated to the job ID. For example, the bibliographic informationincludes a user name, a printing type indicating whether a colorprinting or a monochrome printing is to be carried out, a number ofprints to be made, and the like. The job storing part 15 forms a storageregion for storing the print data, the bibliographic information and thelike in the auxiliary storage unit 102.

The job transfer part 16 transfers the print data or the bibliographicinformation stored (or recorded) in the job storing part 15 to the imageforming apparatus 20 in response to a request from the image formingapparatus 20. The result receiving part 17 receives a job executionresult (for example, information indicating whether the job wassuccessfully executed) from the image forming apparatus 20, and deletesthe print data stored in the job storing part 15. The report creatingpart 18 generates (or tabulates) information (or report) indicating astate of use of the image forming apparatus 20 by each user, forexample, based on the bibliographic information stored in the jobstoring part 15.

The image forming apparatus 20 includes a card ID acquiring part 21, anauthentication control part 22, a correspondence information storagepart 23, a job acquiring part 24, a print control part 25, and a resultsending part 26. The functions of the card ID acquiring part 21, theauthentication control part 22, the correspondence information storagepart 23, the job acquiring part 24, the print control part 25, and theresult sending part 26 are basically realized by the program that isinstalled in the image forming apparatus 20 and causes the CPU 201 ofthe image forming apparatus 20 to execute processes corresponding to thefunctions.

The card ID acquiring part 21 acquires from the card reader 40 the cardID that is read from the card 50 by the card reader 40. Theauthentication control part 22 acquires a user name and a pass wordcorresponding to the card ID from the correspondence information storagepart 23, and causes the authentication server 30 to carry out anauthentication based on the acquired user name and password. Thecorrespondence information storage part 23 forms a storage region (forexample, a table) for storing correspondence information indicating acorrespondence between the card ID and the user name and password, inthe auxiliary storage unit 203. The job acquiring part 24 acquires theprint data or the bibliographical information acquired by the printserver 10. The print control part 25 causes the image output part 205 toprint the print data that is acquired by the job acquiring part 24. Theresult sending part 26 sends the job execution result to the printserver 10.

The authentication server includes an authentication process part 31 anda user database (DB) 32. The functions of the authentication processpart 31 and the user DB 32 are basically realized by the program that isinstalled in the authentication server 30 and causes the CPU of theauthentication server 30 to execute processes corresponding to thefunctions. The authentication process part 31 carries out anauthentication process using authentication information that isregistered in advance in the user DB 32 for each user, in response tothe authentication request from the print server 10 or the image formingapparatus 20. The user DB 32 is recorded (or registered) with theauthentication information for each user. The user DB 32 may be recordedwith attribute information of the user, in addition to theauthentication information. For example, the user DB 32 may be recordedwith authority information related to the functions of the image formingapparatus 20 for each user.

Next, a description will be given of a processing sequence of theprinting system 1, by referring to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flow chart forexplaining a process at a time of storing a job. In FIG. 5, the useroperates the client PC 60.

In a step S101, the print instruction accepting part 61 accepts theselection of the document data that is the print target (or print targetdocument data), and causes the display part of the client PC 60 todisplay the print setting screen. The print instruction accepting part61 accepts input of the print attribute information and theauthentication information (for example, the user name and password) viathe print setting screen. Of course, the screen from which the printattribute information is input and the screen from which theauthentication information is input may be separate screens. In otherwords, the print setting screen in the first example of this embodimentmay be a set of a plurality of screens.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an authenticationinformation input screen forming the print setting screen. In FIG. 6, anauthentication information input screen 610 includes a user name inputregion 611 and a password input region 612. The print instructionaccepting part 61 accepts the input of the user name and password viathe authentication information input screen 610.

Next, in a step S102, the print data generating part 62 generates theprint data of the print target document data according to the printattribute information, and records the input user name and password inthe print data. In a step S103, the print request sending part 63 sendsthe print request including the generated print data to the print server10. Identification information (for example, the IP address) of theprint server 10 at the sending destination of the print data is recordedin advance in a storage unit of the client PC 60.

In a step S201, the print request receiving part 11 of the print server10 receives the print request. In a step S202, the print enable judgingpart 12 extracts the authentication information from the print dataincluded in the print request, and sends the authentication requestincluding the extracted authentication information to the authenticationserver 30. Identification information (for example, the IP address) ofthe authentication server 30 at the destination of the authenticationrequest is recorded in advance in the auxiliary storage unit 102.

In a step S301, the authentication process part 31 of the authenticationserver 30 receives the authentication request from the print server 10.In a step S302, the authentication process part 31 collates theauthentication information included in the authentication request andthe authentication information recorded in the user DB 32 for each user.Then, in a step S303, the authentication process part 31 returns theauthentication result (information indicating whether the authenticationwas successful) to the print server 10.

In a step S203, the print enable judging part 12 of the print server 10receives the authentication result from the authentication server 30. Ina step S204, the print enable judging part 12 judges whether theprinting is to be enabled based on the authentication result. If theauthentication is successful and the judgement result in the step S204is YES, the print enable judging part 12 inputs the judgement result(that is, information indicating that the authentication was successfuland the printing is enabled) to the job recording part 14. In a stepS205, the job recording part 14 generates the job ID according to thejudgement result of the step S204, and records the print data in the jobstoring part 15 in a manner related to the job ID. In addition, the jobrecording part 14 extracts the print attribute information from theprint data, and records the extracted print attribute information in thejob storing part 15, as the bibliographical information of the job, in amanner related to the job ID.

On the other hand, if the authentication is unsuccessful and thejudgement result in the step S204 is NO, the print enable judging part12 inputs the judgement result (that is, information indicating that theauthentication was unsuccessful and the printing is prohibited) to theprohibit sending part 13. In a step S206, the prohibit sending part 13sends the judgement result indicating that the printing is prohibited tothe client PC 60.

In a step S104, the prohibit notifying part 64 causes the display partof the client PC 60 to display an error message or the like indicatingthat the printing is prohibited, when the judgement result indicatingthat the printing is prohibited is received from the print server 10.Accordingly, the user may recognize that the printing is enabled orprohibited, when the print instruction is input from the client PC 60.As a result, it is possible to prevent an inconvenience such as the usermoving to the location of the image forming apparatus 20 and thereafterrecognizing that the printing is prohibited.

Furthermore, by avoiding storage of the print data or the like that isprohibited from being printed, it is possible to minimize unwanted orunnecessary usage of the storage region in the job storing part 15. Inaddition, it is possible to prevent an unauthorized person frominputting and storing unauthorized data in the job storing part 15.

In the first example of this embodiment, the print enable judging part12 judges whether to enable the printing based only on theauthentication result, but it is possible to take into consideration anexistence of an authorization with respect to the print attributeindicated by the print attribute information when judging whether toenable the printing. In this case, in the step S303, if theauthentication is successful, the authentication process part 31 of theprint server 30 acquires from the user DB 32 authorization informationof the user for whom the authentication was successful, and sends theauthentication information together with the authentication result tothe print server 10. The authorization information indicates anexistence of authorization (or right to use) for each item (or function)corresponding to the print attribute information. The print enablejudging part 12 compares the authorization information and the printattribute information, and judges that the printing is enabled if theuser is authorized (that is, has the right) to use all print attributes(such as color printing) that are respectively specified as a utilizingtarget in the print attribute information. On the other hand, if theuser is not authorized (that is has no right) to use all printattributes that are respectively specified as the utilizing target inthe print attribute information, the print enable judging part 12 judgesthat the printing is prohibited even if the authentication issuccessful. The authorization information may be recorded in theauxiliary storage unit 203 of the print server 10.

As described above, by judging whether to enable the printing by takinginto consideration the authorization (or right to use) with respect tothe print attribute when storing the job, it is possible to avoid aninconvenience such as the user being unable to carry out the printingdue to lack of authorization (or right to use) when operating the imageforming apparatus 20.

After storing the job, the user moves to the location of a desired imageforming apparatus 20. In other words, because the image formingapparatus 20 at the output destination (or print destination) is notspecified when storing the job, the user may select any image formingapparatus 20 corresponding to the print server 10, that is convenient tothe user, as the output destination.

Next, a description will be given of a processing sequence whenexecuting a job after the user moves to the location of the desiredimage forming apparatus 20, by referring to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the process at a time of executing the job. In FIG.7, those steps that are the same as those corresponding steps in FIG. 5are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereofwill be omitted.

In order to make a log-in to the image forming apparatus 20, the usersets the card 50 into the card reader 40. In a step S401, the card IDacquiring part 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 acquires the card ID(hereinafter referred to as a “current card ID”) that is read from thecard 50 by the card reader 40, and records the current card ID in thememory 202. The setting of the card 50 into the card reader 40 refers toan operation of putting the card 50 in a state where the informationrecorded on the card 50 is readable by the card reader 40, includinginserting the card 50 into the card reader 40, sliding the card 50relative to the card reader 40, and holding the card 50 above the cardreader 40.

Then, in a step S402, the authentication control part 22 converts thecurrent card ID into the authentication information (for example, username and password) of the user using correspondence information recordedin the correspondence information storage part 23.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the correspondenceinformation stored in the correspondence information storage part 23. Asillustrated in FIG. 8, the correspondence information storage part 23 isrecorded with the user name, the card ID and the password, incorrespondence with each other (that is, in a related manner), for eachuser. Hence, in the step S402, the authentication control part 22converts the current card ID into the user name and password byacquiring the user name and password that are recorded in thecorrespondence information storage part 23 in correspondence with thecurrent card ID.

Next, in a step S403, the authentication control part 22 sends theauthentication request including the converted authenticationinformation to the authentication server 30. The identificationinformation (for example, the IP address) of the authentication server30 that is the authentication request destination is recorded in advancein the auxiliary storage unit 203. In the steps S301 and S302, theauthentication server 30 executes the authentication process similar tothat described above in conjunction with FIG. 5 in response to theauthentication request, and returns the authentication result to theimage forming apparatus 20. The authentication for the log-in of theimage forming apparatus 20 and the authentication to judge whether theprinting is enabled in the print server 10 do not necessarily have touse the same authentication server 30. However, when the sameauthentication server 30 is used for these two authentications, it ispossible to increase the possibility that both the authentication forthe log-in of the image forming apparatus 20 and the authentication tojudge whether the printing is enabled in the print server 10 will becomesuccessful. In other words, it is possible to improve the reliability ofthe judgement that judges whether the printing is enabled in the printserver 10.

Next, in a step S404, the authentication control part 22 of the imageforming apparatus 20 receives the authentication result. If theauthentication is unsuccessful (that is, fails) and a judgement resultin a step S405 is NO, the authentication control part 22 rejects thelog-in, and in this case, the user cannot use the image formingapparatus 20. On the other hand, if the authentication is successful andthe judgement result in the step S405 is YES, the authentication controlpart 22 permits the log-in so that the use can use the image formingapparatus 20. In a step S406, because the authentication was successful,the job acquiring part 24 specifies the user name of the user who madethe log-in, and sends to the print server 10 an acquisition request forthe bibliographical information of the job that is stored. Theidentification information (for example, the IP address) of the printserver 10 at the job acquisition destination is registered in advance inthe auxiliary storage unit 203. In addition, a plurality of printservers 10 may be registered so that all of the print servers 10 can bespecified as the job acquisition destination or, so that the user canselect the print server 10 that is to become the job acquisitiondestination from amongst the plurality of print servers 10.

When the job transfer part 16 of the print server 10 receives theacquisition request for the bibliographical information in a step S211,the job transfer part 16, in a step S212, acquires from the job storingpart 15 a list of bibliographical information related to the user namethat is specified in the acquisition request. The list may only have oneentry of the bibliographical information. Then, the job transfer part 16returns the list of bibliographical information that is acquired to theimage forming apparatus 20, in a step S213. Each bibliographicalinformation is added with a job ID that is related thereto.

When the job acquiring part 24 of the image forming apparatus 20receives the list of bibliographical information in a step S407, andcauses the received list to be displayed on the display part 208 in astep S408. When the user operates the operation part 209 and selects oneor more print target jobs from the displayed list, the job acquiringpart 24 accepts the selected print target job or jobs in a step S409.The job acquiring part 24 sends a print data acquisition request to theprint server 10 by specifying the job ID of each selected print targetjob in a step S410.

The job transfer part 16 of the print server 10 receives the print dataacquisition request from the image forming apparatus 20 in a step S214,and acquires the print data related to the job ID specified by the printdata acquisition request from the job storing part 15 in a step S215.Then, the job transfer part 16 sends the acquired print data to theimage forming apparatus 20 in a step S216.

In the image forming apparatus 20, when the job acquiring part 24receives the print data from the print server 10 in a step S411, theprint control part 25 causes (or controls) the image output part 205 tocarry out a print process and print the print data in a step S412. Whenthe print process is completed, the result sending part 26 specifies thejob ID related to the print data that is printed by the print process,and sends a message indicating the completion of the print process (or aprint complete message) to the print server 10 in a step S413.

When the print complete message is received by the result receiving part17 of the print server 10 in a step S217, the result receiving part 17deletes the print data corresponding to the job ID that is specified bythe print complete message from the job storing part 15 in a step S218.By deleting the print data in response to the completion of the printprocess (or printing), it is possible to suppress an increase in theamount of the storage region used in the job storing part 15. Of course,the deletion of the print data may be carried out periodically. In thiscase, at the timing of the step S218, it is sufficient to add, to theprint data, flag information indicating that the print data is adeletion target. When periodically deleting the print data, the printdata added with the flag information is deleted.

Then, the print result receiving part 17 updates the bibliographicinformation corresponding to the job ID specified by the print completemessage in a step S219. For example, the print result receiving part 17adds date and time information indicating the time when the printprocess is carried out with respect to the bibliographical information.

Next, a description will be given of a report output process executed bythe print server 10, by referring to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a flow chart forexplaining the report output process. The report output processillustrated in FIG. 9 may be carried out when the report creating part18 detects the arrival of a predetermined time, such as the beginning ofa month, for example, or when a manager or the like inputs aninstruction to carry out the report output process.

In a step S501 illustrated in FIG. 9, the report creating part 18acquires the bibliographical information (for example, date and time ofprinting) of the print process that has been completed from the jobstoring part 16. Then, the report creating part 18 tabulates thebibliographical information of each job for each user, based on the username included in each bibliographical information, in a step S502.Tabulating in this case refers to counting the number of color printsmade and/or the number of monochrome (black-and-white) prints made,computing accounting information depending on each number of printsmade, and the like. The accounting information may be computed bymultiplying a preset unit price to each number of prints made.

Next, the report creating part 18 outputs a report by printing thetabulated results in a step S503. The printing of the tabulated resultsmay be made by the image forming apparatus 20 or by another imageforming apparatus or printer.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the report that isprinted. In FIG. 10, the report includes, with respect to each username, the number of color prints made, the accounting information (orprice) of the color prints made, the number of monochrome prints made,the accounting information (or price) of monochrome prints made, and thetotal accounting information (or total price) of the prints made. Themanager may comprehend the state of use of the image forming apparatus20 by each user by referring to the report illustrated in FIG. 10. Inaddition, the report may be utilized to analyze running costs and thelike. Of course, the format of the report is not limited to thatillustrated in FIG. 10. For example, the bibliographical informationrecorded in the job storing part 15 may be output as a report withouttabulating the bibliographical information. In this case, it is possibleto comprehend a log of the jobs.

In a general system, an apparatus (for example, a computer) that createsthe report must collect a job execution log from each image formingapparatus. On the other hand, in the first example of this embodiment,the report may be created by effectively utilizing the bibliographicalinformation that is stored for the purpose of executing the job. Inother words, the report may be created by utilizing a constituentelement that is originally implemented to realize another function.Accordingly, it is unnecessary in the first example of this embodimentto implement a complex process for outputting the report. In addition,the single print server 10 stores the bibliographical information of theprint jobs executed in a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20. Forthis reason, the report that is output from the print server 10 is incorrespondence with the actual results of the jobs executed in theplurality of image forming apparatuses 20.

As described above, in the first example of this embodiment, theauthentication is carried out based on the authentication informationincluded in the print data when inputting the job, that is, when makingthe print request with respect to the print server 10, in order to judgewhether the printing is to be enabled. In addition, the judgement resulton whether the printing is to be enabled is notified to the client PC60. Hence, the user may recognize whether the printing is enabled beforemoving to the location of the image forming apparatus.

It is assumed in the description given above that the authenticationinformation input at the client PC 60 is included in the print data andsent to the print server 10. However, the print data and theauthentication information may be transferred separately. For example,the authentication information may be sent first, and the print data maybe transferred thereafter when the authentication is successful. Inother words, the authentication information may be transferred at anarbitrary timing as long as the timing is before the job recording part14 stores the print data and the like.

Next, a description will be given of a second example of this embodimentof the present invention, by referring to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a blockdiagram illustrating an example of a functional structure of the printserver in the second example of this embodiment of the presentinvention. In FIG. 11, those parts that are the same as thosecorresponding parts in FIG. 4 are designated by the same referencenumerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In the second example of this embodiment, a plurality of print serversare provided. For the sake of convenience, FIG. 11 illustrates two printservers 10 a and 10 b. The constituent elements of the print server 10 aare designated by the same reference numerals as those illustrated inFIG. 4 but with a suffix “a”. The constituent elements of the printserver 10 b are designated by the same reference numerals as thoseillustrated in FIG. 4 but with a suffix “b”. Each of the print servers10 a and 10 b is not provided with a job storing part 15. Instead, a jobstoring part 15 is provided in a storage apparatus 70 that is connectedto each of the print servers 10 a and 10 b via a network. In otherwords, the print servers 10 a and 10 b share the job storing part 15.Each of the print servers 10 a and 10 b is recorded in advance with thelocation (for example, the IP address, the Uniform Resource Locator(URL) or the like) of the job storing part 15 in the auxiliary storageunit 102.

Even in this case where the job storing part 15 is shared by a pluralityof servers 10 (10 a and 10 b in this example), the processing sequenceat the time of storing the job and the processing sequence at the timeof executing the job are basically the same as the processing sequencesdescribed above in conjunction with FIGS. 5 and 7. In other words, thejob recording part 14, the job transfer part 16, and the resultreceiving part 17 of each print server 10 accesses the job storing part15 that is shared and is provided within the storage apparatus 70,instead of accessing the job storing part 15 therein. Otherwise, theprocessing sequence at the time of storing the job and the processingsequence at the time of executing the job are basically the same as theprocessing sequences described above.

According to the second example of this embodiment, even in a case wherea plurality of print servers 10 need to be provided in order to satisfyload distribution needs or the like, the information (for example, theprint data, the bibliographical information and the like) related to thejob requested by each print server 10 is centrally managed by use of theshared job storing part 15 within the storage apparatus 70. For thisreason, it is possible to avoid the image forming apparatus 20 that isselectable as the output destination from being restricted depending onthe print server 10 at the input source of the job.

Further, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, butvarious variations and modifications may be made without departing fromthe scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: afirst receiving unit configured to receive, from a client terminal,print data and user information; a second receiving unit configured toreceive authenticated user information by an authentication process froman image forming apparatus that is coupled to the information processingapparatus via a network; a judging unit configured to judge whethersending the print data to the image forming apparatus based on theauthenticated user information received from the image forming apparatusis enabled, based on whether the user information received from theclient terminal is authenticated; a first sending unit configured tosend, to the client terminal, information indicating that printing theprint data received from the client terminal is prohibited based on ajudgement result of the judging unit; a recording unit configured torecord the print data associated with the user information in a storageunit based on the judgement result of the judging unit; a thirdreceiving unit configured to receive, from the image forming apparatus,a print data sending request that requests the print data associatedwith the authenticated user information recorded in the storage unit tobe sent to the image forming apparatus; and a second sending unitconfigured to send the print data associated with the authenticated userinformation to the image forming apparatus in response to the print datasending request from the image forming apparatus.
 2. The informationprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the judging unitcauses an authentication apparatus that is coupled to the informationprocessing apparatus via a network to carry out an authentication basedon the user information received from the client terminal, and judgesthat the printing the print data is prohibited when the authenticationis unsuccessful in the authentication apparatus.
 3. The informationprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the authenticationapparatus carries out the authentication of the user informationreceived by the image forming apparatus to judge whether the sending theprint data recorded in the storage unit to the image forming apparatusis enabled, when the authentication of the user information receivedfrom the client terminal is successful.
 4. The information processingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the judging unit judges thatthe printing the print data is prohibited even when the authenticationbased on the user information received from the client terminal issuccessful, when a user identified by the user information that isauthenticated has no authorization with respect to a print condition forthe print data, based on registered, authorized print conditions of theuser.
 5. The information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein the storage unit is shared by another information processingapparatus.
 6. The information processing apparatus as claimed in claim1, further comprising: a report output unit configured to cause theimage forming apparatus to print conditions of the printing recorded inthe storage unit.
 7. The information processing apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the judging unit causes an authentication apparatusthat is coupled to the information processing apparatus via a network tocarry out a first authentication and a second authentication, the firstauthentication is carried out based on the user information receivedfrom the client terminal, and the judging unit judges that the printingthe print data is enabled when the first authentication is successful inthe authentication apparatus and that the printing the print data isprohibited when the first authentication is unsuccessful in theauthentication apparatus, and the second authentication is carried outbased on the user information received by the image forming apparatus,and the judging unit judges that the sending the print data to the imageforming apparatus is enabled when the first and second authenticationsare successful in the authentication apparatus and that the sending theprint data to the image forming apparatus is not enabled when at leastone of the first and second authentications is unsuccessful in theauthentication apparatus.
 8. An information processing systemcomprising: an information processing apparatus; and an image formingapparatus coupled to the information processing apparatus via a network,said information processing apparatus comprising: a first receiving unitconfigured to receive, from a client terminal, print data and userinformation; a second receiving unit configured to receive authenticateduser information by an authentication process from the image formingapparatus; a judging unit configured to judge whether sending the printdata to the image forming apparatus based on the authenticated userinformation received from the image forming apparatus is enabled, basedon whether the user information received from the client terminal isauthenticated; a first sending unit configured to send, to the clientterminal, information indicating that printing the print data isprohibited based on a judgement result of the judging unit; a recordingunit configured to record the print data associated with the userinformation in the storage unit based on the judgement result of thejudging unit; a third receiving unit configured to receive, from theimage forming apparatus, a print data sending request that requests theprint data associated with the authenticated user information recordedin the storage unit to be sent to the image forming apparatus; and asecond sending unit configured to send the print data associated withthe authenticated user information to the image forming apparatus, inresponse to the print data sending request from the image formingapparatus, said image forming apparatus comprising: a print control unitconfigured to print the print data received from the information.processing apparatus.
 9. The information processing system as claimed inclaim 8, wherein the judging unit of the information processingapparatus causes an authentication apparatus that is coupled to theinformation processing apparatus via a network to carry out anauthentication based on the user information received from the clientterminal, and judges that the printing the print data is prohibited whenthe authentication is unsuccessful in the authentication apparatus. 10.The information processing system as claimed in claim 9, wherein theauthentication apparatus carries out the authentication of the userinformation received by the image forming apparatus to judge whether thesending the print data recorded in the storage unit to the image formingapparatus is enabled, when the authentication of the user informationreceived from the client terminal is successful.
 11. The informationprocessing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the judging unit of theinformation processing apparatus judges that the printing the print datais prohibited even when the authentication based on the user informationreceived from the client terminal is successful, when a user identifiedby the user information that is authenticated has no authorization withrespect to a print condition for the print data, based on registered,authorized print conditions of the user.
 12. The information processingsystem as claimed in claim 11, wherein the registered, authorized printconditions of the user are stored in an information storage unit of theauthentication apparatus.
 13. The information processing system asclaimed in claim 8, wherein the judging unit of the informationprocessing apparatus causes an authentication apparatus that is coupledto the information processing apparatus via a network to carry out afirst authentication and a second authentication, the firstauthentication is carried out based on the user information receivedfrom the client terminal, and the judging unit judges that the printingthe print data is enabled when the first authentication is successful inthe authentication apparatus and that the printing the print data isprohibited when the first authentication is unsuccessful in theauthentication apparatus, and the second authentication is carried outbased on the user information received by the image forming apparatus,and the judging unit judges that the sending the print data to the imageforming apparatus is enabled when the first and second authenticationsare successful in the authentication apparatus and that the sending theprint data to the image forming apparatus is not enabled when at leastone of the first and second authentications is unsuccessful in theauthentication apparatus.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium on which a program which, when executed by a computer of aninformation processing apparatus, causes the computer to perform aprocess comprising: a first receiving procedure causing the computer toreceive, from a client terminal, print data and user information; asecond receiving procedure causing the computer to receive authenticateduser information by an authentication process from an image formingapparatus that is coupled to the information processing apparatus via anetwork: a judging procedure causing the computer to judge whethersending the print data to the image forming apparatus based on theauthenticated user information received from the image forming apparatusis enabled, based on whether the user information received from theclient terminal is authenticated; a first sending procedure causing thecomputer to send, to the client terminal, information indicating thatprinting the print data received from the client terminal is prohibitedbased on a judgement result of the judging procedure; a recordingprocedure causing the computer to record the print data associated withthe user information in a storage unit based on the judgement result ofthe judging procedure; a sending request receiving procedure causing thecomputer to receive, from an image forming apparatus that is coupled tothe information processing apparatus via a network, a print data sendingrequest including the authenticated user information that is acquiredwhen a second authentication result acquired via the image formingapparatus indicates a successful authentication; and a second sendingprocedure causing the computer to send the print data associated withthe authenticated user information to the image forming apparatus, inresponse to the print data sending request from the image formingapparatus.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium asclaimed in claim 14, wherein the judging procedure causes anauthentication apparatus coupled to the information processing apparatusvia a network to carry out an authentication based on the userinformation received from the client terminal, and judges that theprinting the print data is prohibited when the authentication isunsuccessful in the authentication apparatus.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein theauthentication apparatus carries out the authentication of the userinformation received by the image forming apparatus to judge whether thesending the print data recorded in the storage unit to the image formingapparatus is enabled, when the authentication of the user informationreceived from the client terminal is successful.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 14, wherein thejudging procedure judges that the printing the print data is prohibitedeven when the authentication based on the user information received fromthe client terminal is successful, when a user identified by the userinformation that is authenticated has no authorization with respect to aprint condition for the print data, based on registered, authorizedprint conditions of the user.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium as claimed in claim 14, wherein the storage unit isshared by another information processing apparatus.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 14,further comprising: a report output procedure causing the computer tocontrol the image forming apparatus to print conditions of the printingrecorded in the storage unit.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium as claimed in claim 14, wherein the judging procedurecauses an authentication apparatus that is coupled to the informationprocessing apparatus via a network to carry out a first authenticationand a second authentication, the first authentication is carried outbased on the user information received from the client terminal, and thejudging procedure judges that the printing the print data is enabledwhen the first authentication is successful in the authenticationapparatus and that the printing the print data is prohibited when thefirst authentication is unsuccessful in the authentication apparatus,and the second authentication is carried out based on the userinformation received by the image forming apparatus, and the judgingprocedure judges that the sending the print data to the image formingapparatus is enabled when the first and second authentications aresuccessful in the authentication apparatus and that the sending theprint data to the image forming apparatus is not enabled when at leastone of the first and second authentications is unsuccessful in theauthentication apparatus.